Cultural Implications on Management Practices in Cameroon Cultural Implications on Management Practices in Cameroon 'A thesis submitted to the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy' 2016 Mirabell Pendati Mirabell Pendati 20/12/2016 Page I Cultural Implications on Management Practices in Cameroon Abstract This thesis examines the impact of cultural values directly on employee motivation and indirectly via leadership style. The study identifies distinguishing features of cultural values, leadership styles and employee motivation in Cameroon. The research investigates the perceptions of these concepts by managers and employees and the distinctive influence of the traditional Cameroonian values as compared to the Western values contained in the discourse of authors such as Hofstede, Likert, Maslow and Herzberg and students of their work1 Field work includes questionnaires and interviews designed to elicit perceptions of the three concepts from the sample; the distinctiveness of perceptions as compared to Western discourse. Focus groups were incorporated into the research design and used to evaluate and modify hypotheses resulting from the fieldwork. The conceptual model designed for the research is based on literature and consultations. The study used both quantitative questionnaire survey and qualitative in depth interviews to collect data. 135 employees and managers from 10 SMEs of the banking and telecommunication industries in the private sector participated in the survey. 10 of them were interviewed, 4 leaders and 6 followers. Seven hypotheses are developed and tested against their validity in Cameroon and in relation to the literature. The results indicate that the main hypotheses developed based on the three strands of literature used in the study proved to be robust, but some different important details were also found out. For example, Hofstede's (1991) masculinity index for the West African region was 46 but that for this study is 64. There are also some distinctions with respect to leadership style and employee motivation. The study indicates that the perceived leadership style in organisations in Cameroon is paternalistic, that extrinsic motivational factors are more important to Cameroonian employees than intrinsic factors. The study also discovered some African cultural values and leadership practices that constrain employee motivation and consequently organisational performance. It has been found out that employees in Cameroon's organisations will perform better in conditions where organisational values such as cooperation, participation, specification of targets and performance measure are of paramount importance especially if the leadership dimensions are those that encourage motivation and interaction. Direct and indirect links appear to exist. 1 References are found in the thesis Mirabell Pendati 20/12/2016 Page III Cultural Implications on Management Practices in Cameroon Acknowledgement I am very thankful to the almighty God; Jehovah for His guidance, protection and blessing that helped in the completion of this thesis. Special gratitude too goes to many people for their valuable and meaningful contribution to this thesis. Firstly, I am and will always be grateful to my supervisory team Prof. Robin Matthews and Dr. John Koenigsberger for the contributions they made towards this study. Special thanks go to my Director of Study, Prof. Robin Matthews for his patience, guidance, encouragement, constructive criticisms, useful comments, advice, suggestions and diligent revision of this thesis. This thesis is what it is thanks to his guidance and support. I have also learned other valuable things from them that will help me in life as a whole. Secondly, special gratitude goes to my late father who, despite his health condition always gave me encouragement and support, mother, brothers and sisters for their support during the compilation of this thesis. Special thanks also go to my nephews, nieces and cousins and to all my family members and friends. Thirdly, I acknowledge my gratitude to my fellow research mates for their relentless support, guidance and encouragement especially during the lost of my dad. I am also grateful to Dr. Jill Venus and Dr. Rajendar Kumar for their support and encouragement during the course of this thesis. I thank all the staff at the University of Wales; Trinity Saint David. Mirabell Pendati 20/12/2016 Page IV Cultural Implications on Management Practices in Cameroon Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. III Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................. IV Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... V List of Tables and Figures ..................................................................................................................... XII List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................ XII List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... XIV Chapter One ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 The Story of My Research .......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Background ................................................................................................................. 7 1.3.1 Cultural Background ....................................................................................................... 7 1.3.2 Economic Background .................................................................................................. 10 1.4 Western Management Models in the Cameroonian Context .................................................... 11 1.5 Aims and Objectives ................................................................................................................. 12 1.6 General Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 15 1.7 Justification and Significance of the Research .......................................................................... 16 1.8 Current Academic Context of Research .................................................................................... 18 1.9 Theoretical Model ..................................................................................................................... 19 1.10 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 22 1.11 Outline of the Thesis ................................................................................................................. 24 1.12 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 25 Chapter Two.......................................................................................................................................... 27 Theoretical background of Cultural Values .......................................................................................... 27 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 27 2.2 Overview of the Concept of Culture ......................................................................................... 28 2.2.1 National Culture ............................................................................................................ 28 2.2.2 Organisational Culture .................................................................................................. 30 Mirabell Pendati 20/12/2016 Page V Cultural Implications on Management Practices in Cameroon 2.3 Definitions of Culture ............................................................................................................... 32 2.4 The Concept of Values in Culture ............................................................................................. 35 2.5 Models of Culture ..................................................................................................................... 38 2.5.1 Hofstede's Model .......................................................................................................... 40 2.5.2 The GLOBE Model ....................................................................................................... 42 2.5.3 Trompenaars' Model ..................................................................................................... 42 2.5.4 Schwartz's Value Survey Model ................................................................................... 43 2.6 Criticisms of Hofstede's Model ................................................................................................. 45 2.7 Facts about Hofstede's Model